LSU Coach: Dale Brown dies at 90, two days after Wooden Award announcement

Dale Brown, the former head coach of the LSU Tigers basketball team, died on Friday, Oct. 23, at the age of 90. His death comes just two days after the university announced he would receive a major national coaching honor.

Brown is best known for discovering Shaquille O'Neal in 1984. At the time, Brown was running a basketball clinic at a military base in West Germany. O'Neal, then 13 years old and already standing 6 feet, 9 inches, approached Brown for advice. Brown initially mistook the teenager for a soldier and asked how long he had served in the Army.

After learning O'Neal's age, Brown recognized his potential. He began mailing the young player letters and basketball exercises. This correspondence continued as O'Neal developed into a top high school prospect. Brown eventually recruited O'Neal to LSU, where he played from 1989 to 1992.

During his time in Baton Rouge, O'Neal earned two consensus All-American honors and won the SEC Player of the Year award twice. He was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. In a 1999 letter to Brown, O'Neal wrote, "You are the only college coach I ever had, and the only one I ever wanted."

The bond between the two men persisted long after O'Neal's departure from college. Brown attended O'Neal's first NBA championship celebration with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000. That same year, O'Neal returned to LSU to complete his degree, fulfilling a promise he had made to Brown and his family in 1992.

In a 2015 documentary titled "Shaq & Dale," directed by Hannah Storm, the pair revisited their history. The film, narrated by Tim McGraw, traced their relationship from Germany through O'Neal's professional career. According to LSU Athletics, the two maintained regular contact through letters and emails for decades.

On Oct. 21, LSU announced that Brown had been selected as the 2027 recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award. O'Neal recorded a video message congratulating his former coach. Brown was scheduled to receive the award in April 2027.